Kneecap or elbow bandage



J. D. WILLMOTT.

KNEECAP 0R ELBOW BANDAGE.

APPLICATIN FILED FEB. 4. 1913.

@9428,465. Y Patensept. 5, 1922.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922...

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

H. HORN & BROTHER, INCORPORATED,

CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A

KNEECAI OR ELOW BANDAGE.

Application led February 4, 1919. Serial No. 274,862.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, J AMES D. WILLMoT'r, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland and the Isle of Man (having `declared my intention of becoming a citizen of the United States), residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented Kneecap or Elbow Bandages, of which the following is a specification.

In order to support and protect an injured or unhealthy knee or elbow joint it is customary/to apply thereto Ia bandage in the form of a tubular fabric sleeve which includes circular courses of rubber or other elastic threads or strips. This sleeve or bandage has a diameter less than that of the limb for which it is designed so that when in use its elastic elements are maintained .in a stretched condition in order to cause itas a whole to exert a compressive action on the affected parts.

It has been found however, than an elastic bandage of this type causes discomfort and annoyance by reason ofthe fact that at the rear of the knee or other joint, it will form in relatively thick folds or wrinkles by reason of the overlapping of its parts when the said joint is iieXed, and one ob'ect of the present invention is to provide a andage of the'above type in which the formation of these folds shall be reduced to a minimum and the nature of that partof the bandage with the required functions of the bandage nor to cause it to have other than a smooth appearance. f

I further desire to. provide a surgical bandage of the type above noted which shall .I v include a part of relatively non-elastic material, preferably of a thickness less than the remainder, having such a construction as to prevent distortion of the bandage as a whole and cause it to perform its desired functions while avoiding the formation of thick and. luncomfortable folds or overlapping portions when the knee or other joint to which the bandage is applied, is iexed.

These objects and other advantageous ends I attain as hereinafter set forth, reference belng had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a knee joint showing my -improved bandage as applied thereto;

^ Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the joint and bandage shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the parts 1n the positions occupied when said4 jointis exed; i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic eleva tlon, showing the detail construction of that i part of the bandage whose construction has been. modified according to my invention;

land

F ig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation also diagrammatic, further illustrating the construction of the bandage.

.In carrying out my invention I preferably utllize a circular or other knitting machine to form a more or less elongated tube 1 of knitted ribbed fabric having in its successive courses relatively thick encircling' threads, strips or bands 2 of soft rubber', preferably provided with a cotton or other covering so that said tube as a whole is ca-VA pable of such expansion as willpermit lof a material increase' of its diameter at any point, although it is relatively iniexible longitudinally.

If this bandage be applied to a knee joint for example, it will, when said joint is. Hexed, form in relatively heavy folds or wrinkles at the back thereof, and these,.by reason of their size and position, will be uncomfortable and in many instances willv so overlap as to pinch the skin at the rear' of the joint. I

According to my invention I omit the rubber threads or bands from a definite area for which purpose I cut them in a line parallel with the longitudinal center line of the bandage, at that part thereof which is to be at the center of the rear of the joint, i. e., in that part of the bandage which is folded or wrinkled to a maximum extent when the joint is bent. n

In a typical case, the successive courses of the rubber strips are cut for a length of from one and one-half inches to two inches, and the two uppermost pairs. of adjacent ends on the opposite sides of the line of the cut are stripped back from Vthe cotton or silk ribbed fabric 3 for a suitable distance, -for example, one-half inch on each side, and are then knotted or tied together as indicated at 4. The two next lower pairs of rubber ends are then similarly stripped back, but for a distance of two ribs further, in a typical case, after which they likewise are respectively .tied or knotted together as indicated at 4a. The stripping back and tying together of the successivepairs of the rubber thread ends is thus continued until half of those which have been cut have been so treated, after which the remaining pairs of ends are similarly stripped back and tied but for decreasing, instead of increasing lengths,` until the two last and lowest of the cut strips have been united in pairs on opposite sides of the line -a: along which they were originally cut. There is thus defined a substantially diamond shaped areal y, elongated circumferentially of the bandage and of a thickness less than the remainder or body thereof, in which area there is a total absence of the relatively thick rubber threads or strips, and it is noted that the knots in which the cut strips terminate are preferably formed under tension so that when finished they are drawn into and practically concealed in the body of the ribbed fabric at the margins of the above noted area..

I then insert in this relatively thin area y, preferably by means of a darning or similar needle, a thin non-elastic thread 5, carrying it from a knot 4 at the one side of the top of said area, across the same parallel with the uncut rubber threads and through or around the opposite knot 4 and the ribbed part 3 of thefabric associated therewith. It is then carried down and similarly threaded back through the unaltered ribbed fabric 3 in the opposite direction, parallel with and below the first length so inserted, to and through or around the knot 4a at the opposite side of the area y, immediately below and to one side of the knot 4. it is then passed down and again carried across l through the ribbed fabric 3 to the next lower knot on the opposite side of the area y, being so carried alternately back and forth and attached, until the bottom of said area is reached, when its free end is knotted or non-removably fixed in the fabric of the bandage.

The relatively thin, non-elastic thread thus practicallyreplaces the thicker elastic threads which have been removed from the area y and connects together the opposite pairs of knotted or tied ends so that said area is substantially inflexible circumferentially as well as longitudinally of the band- Said age, while being soft and fiexible. bandage is thus maintained in shape and at the same time that portion thereof lying at the back of a knee joint for example, and which would form in wrinkles or folds when said joint was bent, is so reduced in thickness that what small folds or wrinkles may be actually formed are not annoying nor are they liable to pinch the skin. As a result of this construction, the bandage while performing all of the functions required of it, is comfortable to wear and causes no annoyance even though the joint to which it is applied be bent to its fullest extent.

While for most purposes I preferably give a diamond or other elongated form to the area from which the thick elastic threads have been omitted, it is to be understood that such form may be widely varied without departing from my invention, since its shape would obviously be such as to best suit the bandage for application to the joint on which it is to be used.

I claim:

l. A tubular fabric bandage having courses including encircling elastic elements and having an area from which said elements are omitted; with relatively non-elastic elements extending circumferentially of the bandage across said area and tying t0- gether the substantially opposite portions of the elastic elements.

2. A tubular bandage having courses including encircling elastic elements of which certain are cut away to define an area from which said elements are absent; with relatively non-elastic elements connecting the substantially opposite ends of the elastic elements.

3. A tubular knitted bandage having courses including encircling elastic elements of which certain are cut away to define an area from which said elements are absent; with relatively non-elastic elements connecting the substantially opposite ends of the elastic elements, the two pairs of free ends of each pair of adjacent elastic elements being respectively united.

4. A tubular knitted bandage of ribbed fabric including circumferentially extending elastic elements, certain of which are omitted from a predetermined area of the fabric, the two pairs of free ends of each lpair of adjacent courses being united along the margins of said area.

5. A tubular knitted bandage of ribbed fabric including circumferentlally extending elastic elements, certain of which are omitted from a predetermined area of the fabric, the two pairs of free ends of each pair of adjacent courses being united along the margins of said area; with non-elastic means for preventing substantial circumferential separation of the opposite united pairs of ends.

In witness whereof I aiiix m si nature. JAMES D. W LL OTT. 

